Washing apparatus



Ct- 3, 1967 w. G. SPANGLER 3,344,626

WASHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 25, 1965 I INV ENTOR WILL/AM GILBERTSPANGLER 'United States Patent O 3,344,626 WASHING APPARATUS WilliamGilbert Spangler, Chatham, NJ., assignor to Colgate-Palmolive Company,New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 25, 1965, Ser. No.482,486 12 Claims. (Cl. 68-122) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A manualwashing machine comprises a support such as a post having on its lowerend a releasable mounting arrangement such as a Suction cup, for uprghtmounting in a container of water into which the clothes to be washed areplaced, and a manually reciprocable agitator is vertically slidablemounted on the post, the agitator having a plurality of angularlyrelated arms carrying downwardly open cups that work on the clothesbeing washed.

This invention relates to manual washing apparatus and particularly to anovel assembly of support and installed in any container by unskilledlabor and requir- -ing virtually no skill or effort for operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel washingapparatus comprising a support such as an upright posthaving suitablemeans such as a Suction cup or a magnet or a combination of both forattachment to the bottom of a container, and an agitator reciprocablymounted on the post provided with downwardly open cups for washingaction on the clothes or other articles being washed in the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel washing apparatuswherein a vertical post slidably supporting a reciprocable agitator isflexibly mounted at its lower end for compensative tilting toaccommodate for uneven clothes levels.

Further objectsV of the invention Will appear as the descriptionproceeds in connection with the appended claims and the anneXed drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly broken away and in section showingdetails of apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a section on line 2--2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the agitator looking substantiallyalong line 3 3 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing a preferred mode ofmounting the washing action cups on the agitator spider.

The washing apparatus of the invention consists ef- 'fectively of twoparts, a support 11 adapted for attachment to the bottom of a tub, pail,gasoline drum, conp l CC crete irrigation reservoir or other casualcontainer Which also receives the clothes or other articles to be washedand the wash water, and an agitator 12 adapted to be reciprocablymounted on the support.

The support 11 preferably comprises a rubber or like flexible Suctioncup 13 having a downwardly open cavity surrounded by a Smooth rim 14that is adapted to engage the bottom surface 15 of the tub or likecontainer 16. An upright post 17 is fixed upon the closed upper end ofthe Suction cup 13 and it serves in the assembly as a vertical slideguide for agitator 12.

Post 17 may be made of wood, metal or plastic and preferably it is anelongated Smooth'surfaced cylinder of hard rubber, plastic or some waterand rust resistant material.

The support attaches itself to the container bottom by merely pushnigdown on post 17 So that the Suction cup 13 grips the bottom. Where thecontainer bottom surface 15 is metal and may not be Smooth enough for agood suction grip, I have found it advantageous to incorporate magneticmeans with the cup 13 and this may take the form of distributedmagnetized particles in the rubber itself at least around the area ofthe rim as shown at 18. Alternatively small permanent magnets may beimbedded in the rubber by molding around rim 14. This is quite effectiveas the usual container will probably be steel, and both holding actionsare cumulative.

The agitator 12 comprises a sleeve section 19 having a relatively loosesliding fit upon post 17, an upper handle Section at 21, and a Spidersection 22 at the lower end mounting a plurality of washing action cups23.

Spider 22 comprises a central hollow hub 24 internally threaded at 25 toreceive the threaded lower end of a hard rubber, metal or likecylindrical sleeve 19 and a plurality of radial arms 26 terminating attheir outer ends in -cup mount bosses 27. As shown in FIGURE 4 each cup23 has an upper socket 28 in which is fixed a pin 29 that projects intoboss 27 where it is removably Secured on by set screw 31. The cups 23are therefore removable for repair or replacement, and are verticallyadjustable relative to the Spider. A suitable retainer nut 32 may beprovided on the sleeve 19 below the Spider.

By removably threadedly mounting the spider hub on the sleeve anarrangernent is provided that facilitates packing and Shipping, as theseparated sleeve 19 can be placed in a relatively flat package-containing the Spider and the support 11. For operation, the Spider isSecured upon the lower end of the sleeve 19 as shown in FIG- URE 1.

The Sliding fit between the sleeve 19 and post 17 can be relativelyloose, with the attendant advantages that this allows free escape of airfrom the Spa-ce 33 during reciprocation of the agitator to makeoperation effortless, and it also permits water which is an excellentlubricating agent for hard rubber to enter between the sliding snrfacesand further promote eaSe of operation.

Suction cup 13 of the support has an annular readily flexib'le zoneindicated at 3-4 in FIGURE 1. This permits slight -automatic tilting ofthe post 17 relative to the vertical when the opposed cups 23 of theSpider may encounter different clothes or like article levels in thecontainer. This compensative tilting of the post 17 prevents binding andwear on the slide guide Surfaces, and it advantageously insures that.all of the cups 23 similarly act on the clothes in the container.

In normal use of the apparatus, support 11 is mounted by means of cup 13upon the bottom of any suitable tor available container, either by thesuction action, magnetic holding or a combination of both, with post 17substantially vertical.

The -clothes to be washed are deposited within the container distributed-around support 11, and the water and soap Or detergent are added.Agitator 12 is now slipped over post 17 and the apparatus is ready forwashing.

Agitator 12 is reciprocated up and down at any desired rhythm by anoperator grasping handle 21. Preferably the agitator is lifted highenough to clear the water on each upstroke, since I find that this givesan Optimum washing action wherein trapped air and water are forcedthrough the clothes under the cups On the downstroke, and the suctionaction of cups 23 lifts and rearrangcs the clothes in Optimum fashionduring the next upstroke, so that an excellent working is obtained.

During reciprocation of agitator 12, it may be rotated angularly aboutthe axis of post 17 to any new position so that increased uniformthorough washing action is possible. The force with Which cups 23 areurged against the clothes to be Washed is not particularly criticalalthough up to a certain point increased effort promotes quickercleaning action.

The flexible cup zone 34 at the lower end of the support provides forsubstantially universal compensative tilting of the post 17 in alldirections during the washin-g action so that no particular care isneeded in leveling the clothes within the container. While I havedisclosed three equiangularly disposed arms 26 in the spider mountingthree rubber type suction cups 23 at equal distances radially of theagitator, it Will be understood that any desired number of arms and cupsmay be provided, and that cups 23 may be relatively stifi and made ofmetal or rigid plastic instead of flexible rubber. If desired the entirespider including the hub, arms and cups may be an integrally molded unitof plastic or hard rubber. Arms 26 may be made adjustable in length butthat is not essential because the apparatus may be used in any diametercontainer, and may even be moved around to different locations in a verylarge container.

The bottoms of cups 23 preferably lie in a plane at right angles to thedirection of agitator movement, and the length of downstroke ispreferably suflicient to enable the cups to almost touch bottom 15 ifnecessary.

Difficulty may be encountered in releasing the support from the tubbottom when washing is completed. FIG- URE 1 shows the suction cup rimas having a localized slit area 35 of small peripheral extent externallyformed with a projection 36 which may be grasped and pulled out to breakthe vacuum within cup 13 to enable support 11 to be readily pulled outof the tub.

The released apparatus and the clothes may be removed to a secondcontainer of clear -water where the apparatus may be newly installed forrinsing the clothes, using the same action as washing. The apparatus maythen be transferred back to the original container and wash water forWashing another batch of clothes.

During the washing and rinsing operations the hands of the operator neednot enter the water, this being quite advantageous where the skin may besensitive to some detergents.

In some arrangements I may secure a bar of solid detergent 37 to theside of sleeve 19 as by a strap 38 during washing as shown in 4FIGURE 1,thus providing automatic detergent introduction.

It has been found that apparatus of the foregoing character washesclothes, even with cold water, with remarkable speed and thoroughnessand with minimum damage to fabrics. The washing action may be completedwith only a few minutes of vigorous reciprocation of the agitator.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be Secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A manual washing machine comprising a support member havingreleasable attachment means on its lower end for firmly but removablymounting it on the bottom of a container adapted to receive water andclothing and like articles to be washed, an agitator member carrying aplurality of downwardly open cups on its lower end and having anOperating handle on its upper end, and cooperating slide guide means onsaid support and agitator members mounting said agitator member forsubstantially vertical reciprocation on said support member wherebyrepeated down and up movement of said agitator member causes operativeengagement and disengagement respectively of said cups with saidarticles being washed.

2. The manual washing machine defined in claim 1 wherein the slide guideportion of said support member is flexibly connected to said mountingmeans at the lower end of said support member to permit compensativetilting of said members together during the washing operation to obtainuniform working even when there is an uneven level of articles in thecontainer.

3. A manual washing machine comprising a support post having a suctionc-up on its lower end for operative attachment to the bottom of acontainer adapted to receive water and the clothes or like articles tobe washed, and an agitator comprising a sleeve vertically slidablymounted on said post, a washing cup mounting member extendng laterallyfrom the lower end of said sleeve, a plurality of angularly distributeddownwardly open washing cups mounted on said member radially outwardlyof said sleeve adapted to work the articles being washed upon downwardmovement of said member and a manual Operating handle on the upper endof said sleeve.

4. The washing machine definedv in claim 3, wherein said suction cup hasa flexible zone near its attachment to said post whereby engagement ofsaid cups with an uneven level of articles in the container during thedownstroke will result in compensative tilting Of the post and theagitator to obtain uniform application of the washing cups to saidarticles.

5. The manual washing machine defined in claim 3, wherein said washingcups are flexible.

6. The manual washing machine defined in claim 3, wherein said washingcups are rigid.

7. The manual washing machine defined in claim 3, wherein said post is acylinder of hard plastic material.

8. A manual washing machine comprising a support post having a suctioncup on its lower end for operative attachment to the bottom of acontainer adapted to receive water and the clothes or like articles tobe washed, and an agitator comprising a sleeve vertically slidablymounted on said post, a Spider fixed on the lower end of said sleeve, aplurality of angularly distributed downwardly open cups on said spiderdisposed laterally outwardly of the sleeve and adapted to engage thearticles being washed upon downward movement of said Spider, and amanual Operating handle on the upper end of said sleeve.

9. The washing machine defined in claim 8, wherein magnetic holdingmeans is provided in said suction cup adjacent its lower end.

10. The washing machine defined in claim 48, wherein the suction cup hassubstantially universal joint connection to said post.

5 6 11. A manual Washing machine comprising a support 12. The Washingmachine defined in claim 11, Wherein post having a suction cup on itslower end for operative the detached sleeve and spider of the agitatorand said attachment to the bottom of a container adapted to repest aresgleh dimensions as to be Capable of relatively ceive water and theclothes or like articles to be washed, flflt Packagln and an agitatorcomprising a sleeve vertically slidably 5 References Cited mounted onsaid post, a Spider having a hub detachably UNITED STATES PATENTSthreadedly connected to the lower end of said sleeve, a

plurality of angularly distributed arms on said spider, dde Waterdownwardly open cups mounted on said spider arms t 1 ers.

ada t d t ork th t. 1 b h d u d 10 2,073,68l 3/1937 Carpentlen 68-215 Pe W e af es emg Was e Pon Own 2,97s,s93 4/1961 Harris \6s 213 Wardmovement of said spider and a manual Operating handle on the upper endOf said sleeve. IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examner.

1. A MANUAL WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING A SUPPORT MEMBER HAVINGRELEASABLE ATTACHMENT MEANS ON ITS LOWER END FOR FIRMLY BUT REMOVABLYMOUNTED IT ON THE BOTTOM OF A CONTAINER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE WATER ANDCLOTHING AND LIKE ARTICLES TO BE WASHED, AN AGITATOR MEMBER CARRYING APLURALITY OF DOWNWARDLY OPEN CUPS ON ITS LOWER END AND HAVING ANOPERATING HANDLE ON ITS UPPER END, AND COOPERATING SLIDE GUIDE MEANS ONSAID SUPPORT AND AGITATOR MEMBERS MOUNTING SAID AGITATOR MEMBER FORSUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL RECIPROCATION ON SAID SUPPORT MEMBER WHEREBYREPEATED DOWN AND UP MOVEMENT OF SAID AGITATOR MEMBER CAUSES OPERATIVEENGAGEMENT AND DISENGAGEMENT RESPECTIVELY OF SAID CUPS WITH SAIDARTICLES BEING WASHED.